Saudi King Salman fully supported his son, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), and lavished praise on the Saudi Judiciary for investigating and cracking the case of Jamal Khashoggi.
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“The kingdom was founded on Islamic principles of justice and equality, and we are proud of the efforts of the judiciary and the public prosecution,” King Salman said in his annual address to the country’s top advisory body Shura Council.
“We ensure that this country will never deviate from implementing God’s law without discrimination,” he went on to say, without directly addressing the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in his speech.
The Saudi King also praised bin Salman’s ambitious economic reform agenda, whose fate is not clear anymore amid allegations of the crown prince’s direct role in the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi.
Last week, the Saudi public defended MBS of involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul but the CIA concluded that bin-Salman indeed ordered the assassination.
Saudi Arabia’s official broadcaster Al-Arabiya later reported the crown prince will attend the upcoming Group of 20 Summit in Argentina in his first overseas trip since the murder. In a show of defiance, MBS will meet global leaders from Turkey, the United States and other nations at the two-day summit that begins November 30.
